[alfa] Re: Strategy for Alfa's Return

[George Graves <gmgraves@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I don't think that Fiat is interested in actually "spinning-off"
Ferrari/Maserati. And there is certainly nothing really in it for Fiat
Auto Group to transfer Alfa - their only money-making brand, to another
division (F/M). If they did so, it would be only to facilitate the
return of Alfa to North America (F/M being the only Fiat controlled car
brands with a US dealer network in place). I suspect that you are
correct about the current Alfa dealer network staying in-place in the
rest of the world if Ferrari took Alfa over, but on the other hand,
Alfa dealers (outside of Italy) aren't very highly regarded, it seems,
and a recent article in the British "AutoCar" specifically mentioned
Alfa dealerships as an area that Alfa needs to drastically improve.

George Graves
'86 GTV-6 3.0 'S'








On Nov 19, 2004, at 7:32 AM, Jay Mackro wrote:

> The only glimmer of sunlight in this cloudy sky is the fact that Luca
>  Di Montezemolo, the head of Ferrari is now the Chairman of Fiat (not
> the car division, but Fiat corporate). While at Ferrari, he was quite
> outspoken about the fact that he wanted Alfa Romeo taken out from under
> the Fiat Auto group and placed under the Ferrari/Maserati group. He
> said that Alfa historically belonged in the company of Ferrari, and
> that with the existing Ferrari/Maserati dealer network already in
> place, it would be easy to start introducing models to the North
> American market.
>   
> George:
>  
> That makes so much sense, that I can't believe it will happen!  Still,
> Luca seems like a "can do" guy, and maybe he will pull it off.
>  
> Not that I begin to understand FIAT politics, but I presume the issue
> with doing it that way would be:  FIAT is so strapped for cash that
> they must be considering a spin-off of Ferrari-Maserati as a means
> of raising some money.  Clearly F-M would be worth a bit more if Alfa
>  was included, but delaying the spin-off until Alfa gets grafted
> in would
>  delay a desperately needed infusion of cash to FIAT.
>  
> Although selling Alfas through the established F-M dealership network
> would make a lot of sense here in the States, the rest of the World
> already has a well-established Alfa dealership network.  So, if my
> prediction of a Ferrari-Maserati entity that is independent of FIAT
> comes true, it might be messy to graft Alfa onto it.  E.g., Alfas
> would still be sold through FIAT-affiliated dealers in the rest of the
> World, but through F-M dealers here in the States.
>  
> I hope that Luca and FIAT solve the problem of reintroducing Alfa
> to the US, but I am not holding my breath.
>  
> Regards
>  
> Jay Mackro
> 27152 Paseo Del Este
> San Juan Capistrano, Calif. 92675
> former ARA treasurer, and still a member
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